Projectile.



A. w. GRAHAM.

PBOJECTILE. APPLICATION FILED MAY I5, I9I6.

' g T 32 Z6 20 Z5 MOMO mag/11%.' 2,5/ ZZ MIIII Patented Mar. v20, 1917.

4 A Isf i i STATES PATENT QFFICE.

vnrronnw W. GRAHAM, or nurrandnnw YORK.

rnoanc'rrnn.

. To all lwhom it, may concern.' f

Be it known that I, ANDREW W. GRArfaM, States of America,

residing at Buffalo, in the county. of Erie and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Projectiles, of which the following is a. specification. 1

4This invention relates .to .projectiles and hasspecial reference to a projectile adapted 'to be used in repelling attacks of'air craft such as aeroplanes and balloons. It 1s a well known fact that rlfle {ire-is inefectlve on air craft when they lare flying .at ythe usual altitude at which such craft operate in war times. It is also Well known that 'owing to the uncertainty of the distance between suchi-craft and the lfrom which l shrapnel is lfired'thelatter is ineliective.

- Theprlncipal object of the present invenA tion is to provide an lmproved form of `projectile which will discharge a volley Vof bullets when it has reached a certain height below the craft. which itis desired to attack,

. chargmg .the bullets being directed toward the object .f instead of Iscattered uncertainly around as in the case of shrapnel. Another important object of the invention 1s to prov1de a projectile capable. of dis-l lets at dliferent points in its flight.

With the above and other objects in view, as will be hereinafter apparent the invention consists in eneral of certain novel details ofv construction and combinations of parts 'hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and specifically f claimed.

".In theaccompanyin drawings, like characters of reference indicate like parts in the several views, and 4 Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through the forward .part of a projectile constructed 1n accordance with this invention 45 Fig. 2 is asectionl on -the line 2 2 of Fle- 1; F .lig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of In the present embodiment of the invention there is disclosed the forward portion projectileewhich includes' the.- body orl baseportion' 10 and the lnose orpoint ortion These 'two parts are separate structed and .are connected in any two or more volleys of such bulmits movement of the disk 22 after .the first series is fired: .l

y con# ysuitable manner. which may be desired. For instance, bolts 13 may be used for connecting the two parts, although this is to be taken as merely typical ofa form of connection. The part 1 1 is provided with a plurality of series of openings each of which includes a barrel portion l14 which is preferably ril'led and a chamber 15 for the reception of a rifle car. tridge 16 of the ordinary type. Thesev openings are arranged concentrlca-lly about the axis of the projectile and may lie either parallel to such axis or diverge forwardly therefrom as desired. The portion 10 of the projectile engages the nose 11 about its periphery and -is recessed as at 17. lFrom this recess extends a channel 18 and extending rearwardly from this channel are openings 19 corresponding in number and alined with the openings' 14. In this'portion of the projectile there is also provlded a centrally disposed opening 20.

At 21 is a sleeve which is revolubly mounted in the opening 20 andcarries on its forward end a' disk 22 which is seated in than the slots in theadjacent seriesand are staggeredin relation thereto. Slidable in the openings 19 are viring pins 25l and plugs 26 close the rear ends of said openings 19.

Between these plugs and the rear. ends of the firing pins 25 are coil springs 27. The forward' ends of the firing. pins are normally held against the solid prtions o f the parts 23 but, -when the disk 22 is revolved the slots l24: are brought into alinement with the open" ings 19 so that the ring pins are released and are projected through the slots against the bases of the, 'ring caps of the cartrldges successively released.- Moreover, it is to benoted that the elongations of the slots in one series over the slots in the other series per.-

Inorderto ei'ect movement of there is ovided a shaft 28 which has its forward en screwed firmly into the portion 1`1 of theprojectile and on' this shaft is mounteda gear 29 which isrixedto the Sleeve 21,

the diskzz y 16.- By reason of the staggered relationof, y the slots in the different series these series are set on successively, thefiring pins belng Meshing with this gear 29 is a gear 30 which is carried by a1 drive shaft 31. This driveshaft is connected to any suitable timing mechanism which I may see t to` adopt and which forms no part in its specic conn struction of the present invention since a variety of forms are now known for the purpose and may be adapted for use in this connection.,

In the operation of the device, the projectile is fired in the usual manner. Suppose the aeroplane should be estimated as at a distance of 5,000 ft. The timing mechanism may be so set in the usual manner that the disk 22 will be turned at,y say, 3,000 ft. to release the first set vof firing pins and thereby fire the rst set of cartridges. 'At, Say 4,000 ft. the disk will have turned su ciently to release the second set of ring pins and a second volley will be fired. It is to be noted that not only will these projectiles or bullets have the velocity due to the movement of the main projectile itself but the'charge in the cartridge will add addi'- tional velocity thereto so that the main projectile carries the bullets to such a point that they will be effective against an aeroplane or the like.

Moreover, it is to be noted that the shell itself may be an explosive shell.

There will thus be produced the eiiect of repeated volleys of bullets against the air craft fired at such distances as to render them thoroughly effective.

There has thus been provided a simple und efficient device of the kind described und for the purpose specied.

`It is obvious that many minor changes may be made in the form and construction of the invention without departing from the material principles thereof. It is not therefore deslred to confine the invention to the exact form herein shown and described but it is wished to include all suchy as properly come within the scope claimed.

Having thus described the invention, what 1s claime as new, is

1. A projectile including a forward portion provided with a series of cartridge receiving openings and having a hollow base, a series of spring-pressed firing pins mounted in said base, and means normally holding said pins -retracted and arranged to move and release successive pins.

2. A projectile including a forward 'portion provided with a series of cartridge receiving openings and having a hollow base, a series of spring-pressed firing pins mounted in said base, a disk revolubly mounted in said base and normally closing said openings, said diskv having a series of openings l arranged to be moved into alinement with the openings to permit movement of the iiring pins.

3. A4 projectile including a forward portion provided with a lurality of concentric rowsof forwardly directed ritied openings adapted to receive cartridges, a revoluble disk mounted in the' projectile and provided with similar rows of openings adapted to register with the first openings, and springpressed firing pins normally bearing against sald dlsk 1n alinement with the rifled openings.

4.-. A projectile including a forward portion provided with a luralitjT of concentric rows of forwardly dlrected rifled openings adapted to receive cartridges, a. revoluble disk mounted in the projectile and provided with similar rows of openings adapted to register with the rst openings,4 and the openings in one row being staggered with respect tothe openings in the adjacent row.

In testimony whereof I aiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ANDREWV W. GRAHAM.

Witnesses L. N. GILLIS, ALBERT Pormns- 

